Monday, November 29, 2004

Sarbanes-Oxley: Stop Whining! - Computerworld

Publicly, most chief executives are begrudgingly positive about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In private, some of those same CEOs express grave reservations about its costs and complexity. If they are self-contradictory, it's because few want to risk being cast as spokespersons against good corporate governance.

Industry front groups have been more open in their criticism of Sarbanes-Oxley, citing it as a threat to U.S. competitiveness. The naysayers have warned that the high cost of compliance will squeeze profit margins, discouraging initial public offerings (IPO) and forcing smaller public companies to delist.

But more than two years after passage of the act, the sky hasn't fallen. On the IPO front, activity has actually increased since Sarbanes-Oxley went into effect. According to Thompson Financial, there have been 164 IPOs in 2004 through October, raising a total of $31.07 billion, compared with just 84 deals totaling $15.58 billion for all of 2003. If anything, Sarbanes-Oxley seems to have engendered investor and market confidence, not wariness.

Sarbanes-Oxley: Stop Whining! - Computerworld

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